There is a beekeeper north of me in Mn who has been buying Russian breeders and building his 
stock for several years. 

He has not had any substaintial losses, gets the same decent honey crop as others in the region and 
has only used formic and oxalic although he indicated this spring he may cut back on treatments as 
he adjusts to a resistant stock

This past winter, wintered over losses were a bit higher here then normal he had 1:20 or so dead 
outs. 

The Russian line has also made it easier for him to succesfully winter over 4 frame nucs he makes up 
in May each year. 

So for northern stationary beekeepers the Russian appears to be a excellent choice and if 
incorporated into a queen riasing program can make a beekeeper self sufficient. Sounds like the 
future to me for northern beekeepers. 

******************************************************
* Full guidelines for BEE-L posting are at:          *
* http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm  *
******************************************************